AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Gyrenes swept the season finale doubleheader against the Warner Royals winning their second conference series and, more importantly, punching their ticket to Fort Myers for the SUN Conference Tournament. Ave Maria won both games by one run, coming back to win game one 12-11 and holding on to win game two 10-9.
With the way game one started, a Gyrene win did not feel very likely. Warner scored at least a run in the first three innings, and jumped out to a 8-1 lead in the middle of the sixth. But in a win-or-go-home mindset, the Gyrenes fought back and scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game.
The rally started with back-to-back home runs from Davis Blair and Luis Rodriguez-Gallo, the former's being a two-run blast to make it a four-run ballgame. A walk and two singles then loaded the bases for the Gyrenes, who reached into the bench and pulled out David Leonardi to pinch hit. In his lone at-bat of the game, the senior slapped a single to left field to bring Ave Maria within two. A sacrifice bunt moved the two runners still on base into scoring position, and they were brought home an at-bat later with wild pitch and an RBI single from Tanner Kelly, tying the game at eight.
With the momentum fully on their side, the Gyrenes completed the comeback in the seventh inning with Rodriguez-Gallo hitting a solo shot that bounced off the glove of the left fielder and over the wall for his second homer of the game. It is his third multi-homer game of the season.
In the eighth, Blair added some insurance with an RBI double to center field, bringing home Jimmy Coffey.
The Gyrenes entered the ninth with a two run lead and got the first two outs, but Warner decided to make it interesting. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Royals with their backs against the wall. Ave Maria reached into the bullpen for Blake Albritton to get the final out, but back-to-back singles brought home all three runs and put Warner back on top 11-10. Albritton struck out the next batter to end the inning and keep the deficit down to one.
In the bottom of the ninth, Ave Maria got their first two batters on and had them standing on the corners when Harrison Rossi grounded to second. Warner tried to turn the double play but Rossi beat out the throw and Michael Kelly scored from third to tie the game at 11.
With the score all knotted up, the Gyrenes continued their ninth inning rally and got two base runners in scoring position with two outs for Francesco Barbieri, whom the Royals chose to intentionally walk to get the forceout at every base. Tanner Kelly then stepped up to the plate and worked a really good at-bat, ultimately drawing a walk-off walk to seal the game for the Gyrenes.
The seven-run comeback is the largest for the Gyrenes this season in their second walk-off victory of the year.
Albritton got the win for the Gyrenes bumping his record up to 5-4.
Game two started very differently than the early one, but still wound up a one-run game.
Warner struck first in the third inning, but the Gyrenes immediately responded in the bottom half of the inning. Barbieri got the inning started with his second triple of the series and his fifth of the year, which ties him for most in the conference. He came in to score on what should have been a routine groundout for the Warner defense, but a throwing error from the shortstop put Tanner Kelly on second and gave life to a Gyrene rally.
Michael Kelly brought his brother home a couple of at-bats later with an RBI single. He and Blair, who got on before him, also crossed home plate off an RBI single from Rossi.
The game stayed 4-1 for the next couple of innings. Despite allowing a run in the third, Albritton, who started game two after throwing just nine pitches in game one, was working a no-hitter through five innings. The lone run scored on a couple of errors, a sacrifice bunt and an RBI groundout to keep the no-no intact. Through five-innings, it tied the longest no-hit bid of the season for the Gyrenes, matching Luke Zmolik's performance March 5 against Mount Marty.
Warner busted the no-hitter in the sixth and scored two runs to make it a one-run ballgame.
The Gyrenes responded to Warner scoring with another big inning, bringing home five runs in the bottom half of the sixth. Barbieri singled to right for his first RBI of the game, which was followed by a three-RBI double from Davis Blair with the bases loaded. Michael Kelly brought home the final run with a single up the middle.
Both teams scored in the seventh, with Warner winning that frame 3-1. Blair got his fourth RBI of the game and seventh of the doubleheader to put Ave Maria up 10-6.
After a scoreless eighth, the Gyrenes were three outs away from clinching their spot in the SUN Conference tournament. However, the Royals did not make it easy for the Gyrenes. Warner scored three runs in the final inning and had the tying run standing second with only one out. In crunch time, reliever Ethan Petric got the final two batters of the season to strike out swinging, saving the game for the Gyrenes and punching their ticket to Fort Myers.
Albritton got the win in game two as well for his excellent start and improved his record to 6-4. Petric got the second save of the season for Gyrene pitching.
With the sweep, Ave Maria improves to 21-24 and 8-16 in SUN Conference play, securing their spot over the Florida Memorial Lions in the SUN Conference Tournament. That is now back-to-back appearances in the postseason for the Gyrenes and their third playoff berth in postseason history.
"It's obviously not how we envisioned having to get into the tournament," said head coach Nick McCormick, "but now that you are in it, kind of look at it, I told the guys, pretty much everybody is 0-0. Take it one game at a time, and see what we can go make happen to try and go get into a regional."
The Gyrenes will enter the tournament as the sixth seed next week at jetBlue Park, the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox. They will face the regular season champion Southeastern Fire in game one of the double-elimination tournament on Thursday, May 3, with first pitch set for 11 AM. The game can be streamed live on the SUN Digital Network.
